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I thought me ears were burning, so I thought I'd drop by to see what's going on... As for me, well I'm still alive after battling cancer for quite a while now, still skating along, never sure how thin the ice might be, but still on me feet and enjoying life. As for Africa, yea, still involved with that, more so than ever, mostly in Morocco, Ethiopia, Cameroon & Nigeria, think Port Harcourt, a hell of a place, they don't call it The White Man's Grave for nothing. I may be heading back to Nigeria in a couple of months time, but I'll stay well away from Port Harcourt, I was having me breakfast {with my body guard, yea, really, when all of a sudden a battle broke out. Less than a kilometer down the road that we were on a armed convoy of oil workers {Europeans, Americans, and Koreans etc} were attacked by MEND, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, {think IRA on steroids} they were driving what they call technicals, small 4x4 pick up trucks with Browning anti aircraft machine guns on the back of them, not to mention these guys bristle with AK47's etc etc etc, they are mad enough and bad enough any time of day but when breakfast for them is a bottle of gin and a snort of cocaine it's a dangerous mix. The result of the ambush {that went on for over 30 minutes} was, one of the Police armed guards was killed, several were wounded, 5 ex-pats were grabbed, one of them {a Scottish bloke} made a run for it, {a bad idea, they say if you are captured don't run, you have a better chance of being eventually released than running for it during a gun battle} anyway this guy made it, the other 4 were taken but eventually released unharmed, I guess you never know what you'd do in the middle of a firefight, I reckon I'd just pass out... We {me and the bloke who was my pistol packing minder} were about half way through our bacon and eggs {over hard is the safest bet} when the shots rang out, that got everyone's attention, but it's not just the gunfire you hear, you can hear the zip of bullets as they fly through the air, that's when you know you are too close to the action. The place emptied in seconds, everyone heading back down Abba Road back to the relative safety of their compounds or their hotels, speaking of which. The hotels are pretty decent, mainly well off locals or oil workers, Port Harcourt aint a place for tourism, you don't wander the streets there, not even in broad daylight, in 2009 I think it was 103 "white folks" were kidnapped and held to ransom, most of them released after their employers paid on average $1 Million to get them back, but they don't all get released alive 5 were killed, it's a tough place. Most folks stay in the hotels having a drink, playing cards, watching tv, etc, but there is some other "entertainment". Just down the road there are a couple of Universities, and the girls {looking for fun and money, odd how those two seem inseparable hey}, so they head for the hotels 'for a good time". They are bonny girls too, well dressed and really good looking, I was having a bottle of Guinness at the bar when one of them caught my eye, and she was over in a flash, we got talking, she knew nothing of ICT, anyway wasn't long before she said "you can have a good time with me for $20 US" !!! I was mortified, well, almost, something close to rigor mortise seemed to be setting it, what was I to do in such a situation, $20 US for a "good time" and there I was with nothing but Canadian s FFS... Have to say the women over there know how to tempt you, but all that "Faithful" got out of me was a couple of vodka's, and all that I took home was the memory, you don't need penicillin for that. Aids/HIV and Hepatitis are rampant right across Africa, there's a Million a year dropping off their perch from those diseases alone, no wonder the life expectancy in many countries is 47 !!! Looks like I've digressed, I'm doing different things in different places, on me own bat almost, not working with any major organisation, but going over there and linking up with local Church groups for the most part. Although folks aren't going hungry in Morocco, Cameroon or Nigeria there is a common link between them, the problem they have with mosquito's / malaria. Malaria kills off over 1 Million folks ever year in Africa, I guess you have all seen glimpses of it on TV but it's worse when you are in their midst and you see them bury their children in shallow graves, one after another. The stuff that I formulated, I call it XL5, after Fireball XL5, you might remember Lazoon ? the monkey who had a mission every week, and although he dint know what the hell he was doing he always got the mission completed, well that seemed to have a resonance with me, what did I know about mosquito's and malaria, I never saw either in Wigan, mind you we aren't short of mosquito's here in Nova Scotia or the rest of Canada. I think that Caley D and a couple more of you had samples of the stuff from me a good while back to help combat the midges, not sure how it worked against them, but the "new and improved" XL5 has been tested and shown to be "equal to, if not better than DEET". As concerns mount about DEET folks in the Western World are shying away from it, so there's a nice market there to make a few quid from, I use that to help support the cost of making XL5 in Africa, thankfully you don't need a Lab {or a Lab Technician} to make the stuff, a wooded bowl and a spoon does the job. The latest is that I've been invited back to Nigeria {probably November} to meet with a Government Minister, and chances are that will lead to a meeting with Goodluck Jonathan, he's the Prime Minister of Nigeria, {if you can imagine a cross between George Foreman and J.R. of Dallas you've got the picture}, won't be in Port Harcourt though, either Lagos or Abuja, safer and more civilised there. The reason they want me to go is they want to make XL5 on a commercial scale, for their Military as much as anything, they lose more men to disease than to bullets, even taking into account MEND and the border skirmishes with Cameroon, but they will make XL5 for the rest of the community too. Other than the above, I've been messing about with a little bucket thing to sanitize drinking water, the water may or may not look clean in Africa, but it is more likely be littered with bacteria, virii and or parasites including cryptosporidium {a potential killer that no amount of chlorine can kill off}. Faced with such concerns {for meself as much as anyone, did I mention about it being the white mans grave}, so... By chance having some knowledge of nano particled stuff, and how nano titanium dioxide {being a photo catalyst} will kill bacteria, virus, AND crypto, so I got meself a couple of what had been 5 gallon ice cream buckets, found a way to attach the nano powder to the walls and the base of the {opaque} bucket, poured the water in, put the lid back on, and let the sunshine activate the TI02 releasing hydrogen atoms that combine with the H20 turning {some} of it into H202 {hydrogen peroxide} left in the sun for 12 hours {there's no shortage of sunshine in Africa} the water is as "clean" as any water in the First World. My little bucket is getting a lot of attention now, if I wasn't 63 I'd go for a Patent on it, but being in the final furlong of life now it's no use looking for new shoes to run in is it... Speaking of Patents, the Ultra Shaving Cream {remember it} became a Tattoo Cream, odd how things like that happen, like buying a flat racer to see it run into the first 3 now and again, then put it over hurdles to see if become the Fav for the Champion Hurdle. Have a look at the link below, After Inked is now the fastest selling product in the tattoo aftercare market and is selling all over the place, the royalties come in handy, certainly keeps the wolf from the door. After Inked Locations I've also managed to buy and supply over 300 new footballs for schools etc across Africa, be nice to be able to provide them with shirts, shorts and boots, but all they need for starters is a ball to kick around, so that jobs done, I often wonder if one of the feet that kicks one of the balls that I got them will ever find its way to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, the Emirates Stadium, Barcelona or the DW Stadium, you never know hey... It's a long way from Wigan aint it... Canada Bob.

We shouldn't exagerate the problem on the basis of one match. Hearts were tactically naive and giving away early goals made it mission impossible. Rednapp said after the game that it was as good as he has seen his side play. Had Hearts not let Spurs play but got in about them as they did at the start of the 2nd half, it might have been closer. The test will be the return leg. It will be a very different Spurs side and one which there is no way Rednapp would risk against any EPL opposition. A full strength Hearts side should probably beat a largely 2nd string Spurs on the night. Hearts should go down there and take the opportunity to grab what they can. The people of Tottenham would expect nothing less.

Tomorrow's back page headline should be "Tottenham run riot"

Delighted to see our players associated with their respective national squads. It shows how far we have come that so many players in our squad are now internationally recognised

The problem doesn't need exaggerating,no if's or but's, Scottish football is on it's arse big time.

What a f-ing joke! If the roles were reversed i doubt it would have been a red. If the roles were reversed and in some freak display of madness they did send off the rangers defender, it would have been overturned. If the roles were reversed and an appeal wasn't successful then the referee would be harassed, his family would be harassed, he would be forced to quit, and then they would turn on the linesman. Same goes for the other ugly sister. What a f-ing joke!

Can help feeling that they missed an opportunity by not playing Kaiser Chiefs as Tottenham took to the field.

Disgusted. Shows the Old firm can get away with pretty much anything. I'm confused as to why this appeal has been rejected! even if the appeal reduced his punishment to a yellow i would still be angry as he clearly won the ball with a magnificent challenge. Its an absolute disgrace to the Scottish game. Same old story with them scum i suppose maybe one day we might see an S.P.L that is not run by the Old firm on and off the pitch. personally i think Tokely should have been dropped for the rangers game after his performance in Dunfermline and that would have avoided the whole situation. FTOF

Just Pure Magic!! Thanks for all the research, time and effort put into this ... the Aberdeen Press are made to look second rate in comparison to your offering!

Oh, I do hope you are right. All these dealings and wheelings are just toooo much for me. Let the "big whigs" get on with it and let us fans just enjoy ICT. These money dealings are not for us fans really, quarter millions etc., shares etc., - if I won the lottery I would be there, but......

I see tht kevin mccann is trying to join morton, wot about offering him a short-term contract to fill in for some of our injuries?? "Former Hibs full-back Kevin McCann hopes to win a deal at First Division Morton. (Daily Record)"